Morning.
Bright sunshine filled the sky.
Everyone arrived at the venue full of energy.
Hoopa had been unexpectedly well-behaved last night. Not only had it refrained from leading the still-innocent Shiny Gengar astray, it had also helped buy breakfast ingredients and gather the hungry crowd.
Baimu couldn't resist rewarding it with a doughnut.
At the entrance.
The group split up, heading to different areas as spectators and contestants. Hoopa trotted after Baimu and the others, hoping to slip in unnoticed.
The sharp-eyed Meray caught it.
"Hoopa! What did I tell you before we came?"
She glared at Hoopa.
It avoided her gaze, pouting as it muttered, "But I want to go with Little White and Little Gengy!"
Little Gengy?
Baimu turned to the Shiny Gengar beside him. It was chuckling and scratching its head with one claw, looking a little embarrassed.
Hoopa habitually gave people and Pokémon all kinds of silly nicknames, but clearly, it had grown quite close to the gray fatty in just one night.
Kindred spirits?
He hadn't heard what the two talked about in private, so he couldn't say.
"Do you want to go to the stands with it and watch Mawile and me perform?" Baimu asked quietly.
Shiny Gengar wasn't going onstage. For the performance, it would only be waiting inside its Poké Ball anyway, so it might as well join Hoopa in the stands.
Hoopa was small enough to give Gengar its seat and watch from Meray's lap instead.
Or it could sit on Gengar's lap.
Of course.
He would have to ask Hoopa first. It was Hoopa's seat, after all.
Before Shiny Gengar could answer, Baimu turned toward Hoopa. To his surprise, it launched itself at him, hugged his face, and shouted, "Together! Together! Little Gengy's coming with me!"
"But it'll need your